Why Personalized Engagement - Msgme Blog

If you have been to the Waterfall Homepage, you?ll see that we believe in ?Personalized Engagement? as a definition for, and approach to, effective mobile strategy. Wanted to illustrate why it?s such a powerful mindset for industry marketers, communicators, experts and software developers alike.

When grasping the concept of effective mobile strategy, one issue people run into is adoption stratification. Meaning that many folks feel that mobile is about augmented reality and NFC, i.e. the next big thing, whereas ~50% of the U.S. population uses a features phone, i.e. doesn?t even have these concepts remotely on their radar. Consequently, the terminology used to describe effective mobile strategy attempts to simultaneously be straight forward and forward thinking, ultimately proving unsatisfactory. Let?s break the most common lingo down:

Term: Mobile
Definition: Having the ability to communicate with customers using any device that accompanies a person on their day-to-day travels.
Shortcoming: Far too nebulous. Tablets are mobile, cell phones are mobile, laptops are mobile, everything you can take with you is mobile (I see you Walkman). Ultimately, there?s no real guidance of saying you have a ?mobile offering.? Classic ?I get it but what exactly do you mean?? type of term. Similar to ?I work for a gaming company? or the best companies need to focus on ?gamification.?

Term: Mobile Marketing
Definition: Selling to people who are using, or via, their on-the-go device.
Shortcoming: We touched on this previously, but ultimately today?s consumers do not like ?being marketed to.? We live in an age where spam is pretty much the dirtiest of words. Plus, tons of companies and organizations like FEMA have/need an effective mobile strategy, but don?t technically ?market? to their customers.

Term: Mobile CRM
Definition: It?s mobile, but there?s also a data piece to this puzzle.
Shortcoming: Buzz word plus buzz word usually equals no word, and mobile CRM is no exception. It?s important that people understand the importance of customer data in improving a mobile approach, but too often people get confused. It?s not CRM on the go, and ?customer relationship management? can describe a host of things unrelated to mobile specifically.

Term: Mobile Marketing CRM
Definition: It?s mobile, but there?s also a data piece to this puzzle, and marketing is relevant.
Shortcoming: Again, conceptually this is a step in the right direction. There?s mobile, there?s data, and there?s selling to an end user. However, mashing together three incomplete terms doesn?t overcome the individual shortcomings of each.

To be clear, it?s not that the above terms are wrong, they are just inadequate for describing an effective mobile strategy. And here?s where, for the second post in a row, you should start hearing entrance music. In this case that of Personalized Engagement, and it?s for the following reasons:

• Mobile is about communication, plain and simple. Yes, mobile, marketing and CRM are important, but companies developing a mobile strategy need to focus first on interaction with end users.
• ?Personalized? gets at the importance of using data to better inform a communication strategy.
• The best way to use mobile is to illicit a response, i.e. ?engage,? as opposed to sending a uni-directional message.
• ?Personalized Engagement? makes sense. There?s no hidden meaning. Simply, use mobile to create an interactive and targeted dialogue with the end user.
• No matter what new or old technologies used, the focus of mobile is personalized engagement. No stratification risk, period.

Ultimately, personalized engagement rolls up mobile, marketing and CRM into one easy-to-understand term. So, as companies move toward 2013 and beyond, this is the approach I believe in.

One final thought before signing off. It?s Halloween celebration weekend of course, and in the interest of being festive have a look what the NYC botanical garden put together:

Now you might think I?m stretching the concept of personalized engagement too far, but bear with me for a second. Anybody can get a pumpkin. Pretty much anybody can carve a pumpkin. But very few people can carve a pumpkin that generates an emotional response.

That?s personalized engagement for you. Anybody can talk about mobile. Pretty much anybody can send a message via mobile. But those who are truly successful will find a way to message with impact.

Have a great weekend.

Source: http://blog.msgme.com/2012/10/26/why-personalized-engagement/

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